Everton loan stars' success will help not hinder bids for top players says Roberto Martinez

Toffees' boss believes the good job they are doing with Lukaku and Deulofeu will earn them brownie points with the biggest clubs

Loan arrangers: Everton borrowed Lukaku and he's scoring now for them not Chelsea (Photo: John Peters)

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Roberto Martinez is confident Everton's transformation into Champions League hopefuls will help them attract more top level stars.

The Goodison boss showed his canny streak just as the summer transfer window slammed shut, with three loan signings that have made an instant and massive impact on his team.

Yet with Gareth Barry, Gerard Deulofeu and Romelu Lukaku elevating the Toffees into top four contenders, the fear is clubs such as Chelsea - Lukaku's parent club, who could desperately do with the Belgian's goals right now - will become reluctant to loan out players of such quality to genuine rivals.

Martinez though, prefers to believe he has offered the perfect environment for the European giants to carefully their brightest young stars into.

Asked if challenging the likes of Chelsea has damaged any loan prospects in the January window, the manager replied: "I think it will be the opposite now. Teams that have got great investments for their squads will want them to come to Everton rather than elsewhere.

"When you have got a big investment, you cannot give it away easily. I think that you want to make sure the next step is the right one for a player's development.

"That is a compliment to us. And it is something that is very important for us. We had easier options than other clubs to take players on loan, because teams trust us."

Lukaku is the perfect example.

Chelsea have carefully developed the 20-year-old after spending £17m on him as a teenager, and they will not want to lose him now.

Jose Mourinho was careful to place him at a club that could develop the striker's passing game and hone his goalscoring talent, and that is precisely what Everton have done...to the extent it has almost embarrassed the Stamford Bridge boss.

But Martinez is confident there are many more young stars out there who can help his side just as Lukaku and Barcelona sensation Deulofeu have done... and he is not concerned about the short term nature of the deal.

"All I am interested in is having players to surround the strong core - and we have got the core," he said. "They set standards and they set direction. They show how a player should represent Everton. I am delighted with that.

"You then look for that little bit of freshness. It could be short term. But we are very happy to look after the player and benefit them."